Method of forming receptacles



Patented Dec. 15, 1942 METHOD or FORMING RECEPTACLES Anthony T. Beasley,Elmwood Park, and Tracy H. Lust, Oak Park, 111., assignors to ArmstrongPaint & Varnish Works, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Originalapplication February 16, 1940, Serial No. 319,244. Divided and thisapplication October 23, 1940, Serial No. 362,404

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a method of forming receptacles of the typehaving bail receiving bosses, and more particularly to a novel way ofproviding the body of the receptacle with means for detachably receivingthe nds of a bail or handle.

The subject matter of this application has been divided from ourcopending application Serial No. 319,244, filed February 16, 1940.

For years it has been the practice in the tin can industry to form thebody of a can with diametrically opposite bail ears or bosses secured bysolder or other means to the wall of the can. In so adding bosses to thereceptacle, the cost of the receptacle is necessarily increased by theadditional material in the bosses. Moreover, this cost has been furtheraugmented by the cost of soldering or securing the bosses to the wall ofthe can.

In such previous constructions, due to the bosses extending beyond theouter surface of the wall of the can, the can has taken up more room inpacking and has thus added to the cost of packing and shipping the can.Then, too, these outwardly extending bosses or protuberances haveinterfered with the application of labels to the cans and havenecessitated that provision be made in the labeling process to take intoconsideration the outwardly extending bosses.

An object of this invention is to provide a method of forming a bailconstruction on a can which eliminates entirely the necessity for havingprotuberances or bosses on the outer wall of the can, and which at thesame time lends itself to the economical manufacture of the can on alarge production basis.

- A further object of the invention relates to the forming of the bailbosses on the can in such a manner that they are disposed wholly withinthe confines of the body or wall of the can and in reality constituteportions of the material in the can body.

In accordance with the general features of this invention, there isprovided a novel method of forming the wall of a receptacle whichincludes the steps of pressing imperforate insets in a sheet of metal,which insets are spaced apart a distance sufiicient to cause them to bediametrically opposite each other in the completed can, shaping eachinset so as to have an angular bail receiving and retaining portion, andthen forming the sheet into a cylindrical body with the insets on theinner side of the body and within the confines of the body and inposition to receive the ends of the bail; the abutting edges of thesheet being thereafter locked together so as to form a unitary onepiececan body. Other features and objects of, this invention will morefullyappear from the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accom panying drawing which illustrates a can made inaccordance with my invention, which shows the steps involved in themanufacture Of this can, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a can made inaccordance with the features of this invention, the lower part of thecan being shown in elevation;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of the top end of a modified form of canshowing bail bosses positioned directly below the rim of the can andillustrating in dotted lines how the bail or handle may be turned to avertical position;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a sheet of material illustratinghow end portions thereof may be severed from the strip or sheet afterinsets have been formed therein and showing progressively the working ofthe insets; Q

Figure 4 is a ,view similar to Figure 3 and showing how the insets areformed in close proximity to the line on which the end portions are cutand from which end portion the modification shown in Figure 2 canbeconstructed; I

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view taken on theline V-V of Figure 3,- and showing the condition of the'inset after thefirst blanking operation;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figurefi takenon the line VI-VI of Figure3, and showing the condition of the inset after the second formingoperation; I V v Figure 7 is a view similar to Figures 5 and 6 taken onthe line VII-VII of Figure 3 looking in the direction indicated by thearrows, andshowing the condition of the inset after the third operation;Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure '7 taken on the line VIII-VIII ofFigure 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and showingthe condition of the set after the final operation during which theinset is provided with an internal annular shoulder to define an annularseat for the bail eye; and 7 v U Figure 9 is a fragmentary horizontalcross sectional view taken through a portion or the sheet after it hasbeen severed from the strip shown in;

Figure 3 and preparatory to the lock seaming of the abutting edges to.form the end portion into a can body. 7 V I As shown on the drawing:

The reference character It! (Figure 1) designates generally a can bodywhich is made from suitable sheet material such as 100 lb. tinplate.This is the type of material that is commonly used in the manufacture ofpaint cans. It is, of course, to be understood that the type of sheetmaterial may be varied in accordance with the use to which the can is tobe put.

The can includes the usual bottom it which may be secured or lockseamedin any suitable way to the bottom of the wall Ill. The can also has atop beading l2 lockseamed to the can in any desired way and adapted toreceive in the usual way a lid or closure IS.

The present invention is concerned with the manner in which the bail orhandle 14 is detachably connected to the body ID of the can.

Instead of providing the can with outwardly projecting bumps orprotuberances which detract from the smooth external appearance of thecan, we have in accordance with the features of this invention providedintegral imperforate diametrically opposed insets or depressions iE-lfi,which are identical in construction and are adapted to cooperate withoppositely facing but otherwise identical ends it of the bail or handleM. The bail or handle M may be made of any suitable material such, forexample, as spring wire; and as a matter of fact, due to the ends it ofthe 'bail extending into the confines of the can body l and thus beingcloser to the center of the mass to be lifted, the wire may be made of asmaller diameter wire than that of wire bails used with external bosses.

Each inset I5 is formed by depressing the side portion of the can bodyH3 in a direction so as to be within the confines of the can body andincludes an annular seat H for receiving the eye I8 on an inwardlyoffset end I 6 of the bail. This annular seat I! is provided by groovingthe external surface of the depression as indicated at I9, thus formingan inwardly extending annular shoulder inside of the recess defined bythe inset.

In the application of the bail to the can body, it will be appreciatedthat normally the ends of the bail are spaced apart a distance slightlyless than the external diameter of the can, so that they must be sprungover the can in order for the eye portions I8 to be brought intoregister with the openings defined by the insets in the can body.Thereafter, due to the resiliency of the offset portions I6, as well asthe resiliency of the eyes l8, these portions may be easily pressed overthe shoulders 19, and thereafter the eyes expand outwardly into tightand gripping engagement with the seat II. The bail ends may be removedfrom the insets I 5 by pulling the offset ends IS in directions toseparate them or, in other words, in a direction away from the can body.

It is, of course, evident that the resiliency of the offset ends lb ofthe bail M, as well as that of the eye portions I8, enables these bailends to be easily attached to or detached from the insets l5 formedintegral with the can body l0. Then, too, due to the fact that the eyeportions l8 are seated within the confines of the can body l0 when theyare in retained position, they are closer to the center of the massbeing lifted and are not subjected to the same amount of leveragetending to release them as they are in the case where bail ends aredisposed around protuberances beyond the side wall of the can body.

In Figure 2, We have illustrated a modification of the invention whereinthe imperforate insets is are formed in close proximity to and directlybelow the top edge l2 of the can body It. This arrangement enables thebail M to have its ends 15 connected to the can body above a label 9applied to the can body. When the bail is in a lifting position, it isin the dotted position shown in Figure 2. When the bail is not in use,it may be disposed in a horizontal position directly below the edge I!and above the label 9. This arrangement enables the label 9 to beapplied, even though the bail is attached to the can, by simplydisposing the bail in the full line position shown in Figure 2 and .thenrolling the label 9 on the can body '19. Such an arrangement lendsitself well to the easy and unhampered application of labels to canssuch as paint cans. With previous constructions having external bosses,it has been necessary to split the label at diametrically oppositepoints and to provide notches in the label for the bosses. As a result,unless the label is properly lined up with the protuberances in suchprevious constructions, it is not easily and smoothly applied to the canbody.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure l, the label may be easilyapplied to the entire side of the can wall is! by simply providing twooppo-.

site die cuts in the labelwhich may be brought by suitable mechanisminto register with the insets i this label applying operation takingplace prior to the application of the bail to the can body.

In some instances the can bodies are shipped without the bails appliedthereto. In that event. cans embodying our invention can be shipped muchmore economically and with greater facility due to the fact that noprovision has to be made handling for any protuberances on the side wallof the cans. The elimination of protuberances also makes it easier topackage the cans before shipping, as well as the handling of the cansboth prior to and subsequent to shipping, since the cans can be easilyrolled along an incline or the like.

While we have in Figure l illustrated the eye at each end of the bail asbeing an open ended eye, it will, of course, be appreciated that the eyemay be closed if it is so desired. All that is necessary in this respectis that the offset ends iii of the bail be provided with a retainingformation adapted to be resiliently snapped through the opening of theinset and back of the shoulder defined by the groove H] which, as weshall describe hereinafter, may be spun in the inset.

In Figures 3 and 5 to 9 inclusive, we have illustrated somewhatdiagrammatically the manner in which the can body of our invention maybe formed. A sheet of suitable metallic material 25, which may be eithera continuous form or in separate sheets, is fed to a press station inthe can body forming apparatus. In this station four differentoperations may be performed on the inset, in addition to a severingoperation. The first operation consists in forming in the forward end ofthe strip spaced depressed portions 26. These depressions are spacedapart a distance sufficient to cause them to be diametrically oppositeeach other when the severed end portion of the sheet is rolled or formedinto the can body. In the first operation, which may be performed by anysuitable press equipment, the depression has the arcuate configurationshown in Figure 5. Then, the sheet is moved forward a given distance andthe depressions 26 are subjected to a further press operation, so thatthey will each have the shape illustrated in Figure 6, in which thebottom of the inset or depression is flattened as shown at 21. At thesame time that this operation is being performed, two additional insets26 are being formed in the sheet at the first work performing station.

The sheet is then advanced to the third work performing station, wherethe previously formed insets 21 are each flattened into the cap-likeconstruction shown in Figure 7 at 28. At the same time, additionalprevious operations are being performed on other insets to the rear ofthis third position.

In the fourth position, the depressions or insets are spun to providethe groove or shoulder indicated at l9 in Figures 3 and 8, and theinsets are each given their final shape corresponding to the insets [5shown in Figure 1. This step of providing a groove may be eifected inany suitable manner, although we have found that it may be formedsatisfactorily by using a single spinning wheel which rotates bodilyabout an axis corresponding to the central axis of the inset. Such aspinning wheel is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 8 and. isdesignated by the reference character 3 I. In addition, a limiting rollor wheel may be disposed inside of the inset so as to limit the extentto which the metal is spun in to form the groove l9. Such a limitingroll is shown diagrammatically at 32.

Immediately after this operation, the end portion of the strip issevered along the line 30 as shown in Figure 3. The dotted linesindicate the other lines of severance as the sheet is progressivelyadvanced. The end portion that is severed corresponds to the can body lpreviously described, and it willv be noted that the insets ordepressions ll5 are disposed in slightly spaced relation from one edgeof the can body or portion I0.

Then, the severed end portion of the strip is advanced to a body formingstation wherein the bodyis rolled or turned to bring its ends togetheigas shown in Figure 9, and the ends may seamed together at 33. It will beapprethat prior to this operation the edges or ends 0 the sheet [0 maybe provided with turned edgesto enable the seam connection 33. When thecan body is thus formed, the two insets I5-| 5 are diametricallyopposite each other and are ready to receive the ends of a bail l4.Subsequent thereto, the top of the can body may be formed by the usualoperations, and likewise the bottom may be applied by the usualoperations. In Figure 4, we have illustrated a modification of theinvention with regard to the process for forming the can body shown inFigure 2. This process is the same as the one described in connectionwith Figure 3, with the exception that the insets 26' are formed closerto the line of V severing 30 in the sheet 25'.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of constructionmay be varied through a wide range without departing from the principlesof this invention, and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit thepatent granted thereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of theappended claim.

We claim as our invention:

In a method of forming a receptacle including a bail having resilienteyes at its ends, the steps of progressively forming insets in flatreceptacle sheet stock on the same side thereof to form recesses-havingone wall remote from the opening thereof and another wall between thefirst named wall and the remaining stock, collapsing a portion of thedepth of said other wall to form a shoulder defining the outer limit ofa bail receiving chamber in said inset and to form the final shape ofthe inset, forming said stock into a cylindrical body having a pair ofsaid insets diametrically opposed, and subsequently inserting-theresilient bail eyes of the bail into said insets.

' ANTHONY T. BEASLEY.

TRACY H. LUST.

